Common Cause/NY Responds to Citizen Union's Misleading Claims about Proposition 1

NEW YORK, NY (10/08/2014)(readMedia)-- In response to Citizen Union's claim that Proposition 1 "will reform the redistricting process by outlawing partisan gerrymandering, thus ending the practice of legislators drawing districts for political advantage to favor incumbents and the majority parties," Susan Lerner, Executive Director of Common Cause/NY said:

"Spin it anyway you like, but after the judge's ruling, it's impossible to claim that Proposition 1 would "unrig" the system. New Yorkers understand that this proposed commission would actually make a bad situation worse."

"The Judge's ruling is crystal clear: 'the Commission's plan is little more than a recommendation to the Legislature which can reject it for unstated reasons and draw its own lines.' In no uncertain terms, the Judge found that: "The plan can be rejected for the purely partisan reasons that this Commission was designed to avoid.' On November 4th, Voters should reject Proposition 1 for the false choice it is."

In a September 17th decision, Judge Patrick McGrath founded the reform premise of the proposed amendment fundamentally flawed.

Judge McGrath said:

"If the plans are twice rejected, the Legislature can 'introduce such implementing legislation with any amendment each house...deems necessary.' If these principles were truly designed to 'fundamentally change the Legislature's role and discretion in the redistricting process' as advocated by [supporters of the amendment], there would be some direction in the amendment that actually connected the Legislative vote on the proposed plan to the principles." [emphasis added]

Read the full decision:

https://s3.amazonaws.com/attachments.readmedia.com/files/61480/original/Redistricting_Decision.PDF?1410963698